A nationwide anti-polio campaign is underway, and the resolve expressed by the Chief Minister of Punjab to make the province polio-free is a welcomed statement. However, we are well aware that the resurgence of the YB3A imported poliovirus cluster and detection of the virus type 1 in over 31 districts has been a big blow to all the gains made so far by regular immunisation. Being one of the two countries in the world where polio cases still exist, the actions to eradicate polio completely must be far louder than mere words and statements.

We have also seen some very gross negligence in recent years in the vaccination campaigns. 12000 children left unvaccinated in Lahore in the August drive of 2022 is one case in point. Likewise, the campaign earlier this year also missed children in remote villages of Punjab. Such ignorance is the reason why the imported cluster that was completely eradicated from Pakistan in 2021 re-entered the disease cycle last year. While health experts have pointed to unchecked crossings and travel across the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan for the re-birth of the cluster, all responsibility cannot be placed on this one cause.

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Polio-free Pakistan is not impossible. In fact, when very poor and conflict-ridden countries in the African continent can achieve the zero polio mark, so can Pakistan. In countries like El Salvador, Guatemala, and Nicaragua, combatants made way for vaccination drives to do their routine work. This means that the moral acceptance of the drives was huge in those countries. In Pakistan, the acceptance problem is much more than the execution hurdles. Polio vaccines have helped more than 100 countries eradicate the endemic virus, which means the strategy that Pakistan is sticking to is not a problem.

CM Maryam Nawaz has a good chance to do what generations of leaders have been unable to. She has a chance at chalking up a major victory for her CM-ship. If she manages to do this within her tenure, it will be a big push for her political career and the country will be indebted to a good and focused display of leadership.